Legal action mulled for delaying HSRP implementation
Shweta Kamat
PANJIM, APRIL 2
Shimnit Utsch Private Limited is contemplating to move contempt petition in the High Court against the state government’s delay in implementing High Security Registration Plates (HSRPs).
A senior company official told Herald that despite high court in its order dated January 5, directing the state government to enforce HSRP in the state, same has been delayed.
“Advocate General himself had admitted in the court to implement it and sought the time, which has lapsed long back,” an official said.
The company officials said that they will soon file the petition as they have already bagged the contract and motor Vehicle Act 50 makes it mandatory that new vehicles should have HSRP.
Officials said that the state government, which assured to the protestors that they will go slow on the implementation, has never communicated to the company about their decision.
“We have set up the entire machinery and we are not getting the single vehicle there because it’s not mandatory,” an official said.
He said that the state government through a contract has committed to the company, a contract to fit HSRPs. “Once Rule 50 is implemented, the state government has no role to play,” he added.
The company also said that they have not received the copy of Srivastava committee report, which had claimed that the tender process was vitiated.
“Whatever we come to know is through newspapers and whatever allegations leveled against us through that report is false. In our submission before the committee, we had clarified all the apprehensions,” he said.
“All the points raised by committee are already dealt in the high court,” he said adding that its company directors were properly verified for their antecedents by Mumbai police.
The state government’s high level committee has pointed out that the tender process has been vitiated by the government. The committee has said that additional 48 per cent on replacement of new registration plates was added to the tender after it was finalized.
The committee has also said that company’s experience of working with five countries was not cross checked by the state government by writing to the respective embassies. Similarly the antecedents of the company directors were also not checked through respective police authorities.
When asked, Transport Secretary Narendra Kumar said that the final decision over the scrapping of the contract will be taken by the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat.
